Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-04-08
INTERSTATE LAW.
The Ruling of the Com
missiOners
WILL CRUSH THE MEASURE.
Stanford Asks for RecOnstruc,
tion of the Long and short
Haul Section.

tion OF the Long and short
Haul Section.
Associated Press Dispatches to the HERALD
PHILADELPHIA, April Tt is th
general opinion among railroad official
in this city that the action of the Inter.
state Commerce Commission on the lony
and short haul question concerning
Southern railroads will crush the entir,
measure. They argue that this is tn,
most vital feature of the entire act, anc
that theistand taken by the Commission
even though it be of temporary nature
is the entering wedge that will split thu
whole log. "There is not railroad o.
any consequence in the whole country,
said one prominent railway executive
officer today, ''that will not make th.
same claim a. that contended for by
the Southern railways, and the justice Of
their claim cannot fail to be respected.
STANFORD ASKS RECONSTRUCTION.
WASHINGTON, April Iceland Stan.
ford, President Of the Southern Pacific
Railroad Company, made q written ap.
plication to the Interstate Commerce
Commissioners asking. that they make a
construction Of the fourth section (short
and long haul clause) of the Interstate
Commerce bill, which shall be generally
applicable to through business between
Pacific and Atlantic ports, and which
shall allow the company to charge less
rate for through freight than to interme.
date points. In his letter Mr.. Stanford
states that he makes application for this
as under the present Interpretation of the
fourth section of the bill the Southern
Pacific Company is practically prohib-
tied from competition for China and
Japan business, which would be diverted
to go by the way of the Suez canal, and
also from competition with the sea
routes by the way of Cape Horn and
the Isthmus of Panama, for busiDess be.
tween Pacific and Atlantic ports. An
answer was sent to Mr.. Stanford to-day,
stating that no ruling would be made by
the Commission unless the case was for.
mally presented by petition and then
investigated by them.
A PETITION FROM BOSTON MERCHANTS.
WASHINGTON, April THE applica.
ton of the steamship lines and mer-
chants of Boston to authorize the trunk
line railroads from Chicago to Boston to
continue export trade on the same basis
as heretofore, giving equal rates with
New York on all merchandise exported,
has been referred to COMMISSIONS
Walker for investigation. The Commits.
sion will take a recess from to-day until
Friday next, during which time Commis.
sioner Walker will visit Boston and ex-
anime into the matter.
THEATER MANAGERS JOIN IN THE GEN.
ERAL PROTEST.
CHICAGO, ApriI7.-A largely attended
meeting of managers and other persons
connected with the theater business was
held here to-day to consider the effects
of the Interstate Commerce law upon
their interest. Representatives from
all the Chicago theaters, theater print.
ing establishments and large number
of travelling companies, were present.
A good many speeches were made, each
detailing the instances of what was
claimed to be q gross imposition
on the part of railroads, and suggesting
various methods of redress. The enor.
nous increase in the charges on baggage
was the main grievance. A plan of pro.
cedure, which met with much favor, was
that the Commission be asked to sus.
pend for this season the provisions OF
the law which, as interpreted by railroads,
is an especial hardship upon theatrical
people. 1t was urged that
this would be no more than
justice, inasmuch as majority of con
tracts made prior to the passage of the
law contained clauses with which it had
now become otherwise practically impos
sible to comply. A motion to refer the
whole matter to committee of ten.
with instructions to report Saturday,
was unanimously adopted. The com
mittee is composed of Chairman Nc
Caull, three Chicago theater managers,
three members of travelling troupes and
three show. printing house proprietors.
SECTION FOUR SUSPENDED.
The Interstate Commerce Com
mission to-day granted temporary
suspension of the operation of section
four of the Interstate Commerce law to
the Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwau-
kee Railroad Company, SO far as il
would apply to traffic from Milwaukee
to Grand Haven, and destined to points
east of Detroit and st. Clair river, to
allow them to compete with the water
route from Milwaukee to Grand Haven